Back In The Field

My time as a missionary in New England was paramount in my life. Serving my Savior every moment, representing Him, was the most special, invigorating, and humbling experience of my life. I literally gave my mission all of my heart. Oh, what a special time in my life! Now I also absolutely loved my time at Brigham Young University. I wouldn’t change my time there for the world.

Even so, I am amazed to find that I’m growing in ways never thought possible by being back in the mission field. A year ago I would have laughed at anyone who told me I would be in Williamsburg, Virginia right now. But around Thanksgiving 2009, I felt like I should apply to the College of William & Mary, not even knowing which state the school resides in. To my continual amazement, I find a reason almost daily of why I am supposed to be here.

One major blessing of being here is the opportunities for missionary work. We’ve had a baptism in our little branch of 30 or 40 every few weeks. It’s amazing! I want to share the story of just one of them.

Walter Finley is one of the sweetest young men I know. He has a condition called Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), a chronic illness that continuously reduces his muscle power, lending him helpless without his electronic wheelchair. As illustrated in the picture below, he never ceases to smile. He comes from a rough home background, he has limitations in his future options, and he will never live a normal life on this earth. Yet, he smiles. He smiles every time I see him. What a powerful lesson.

The first night I met Walter, I was at a branch dance. A member of our congregation had brought Walter. I was so intrigued by his beaming smile juxtaposed to his virtually-immobile body. I gave him a quick tour of our building, something I used to absolutely love to do as a full-time missionary. The Spirit was so strong as we looked at and talked about various pictures on the walls. He gave me some great insights as we viewed the paintings.

While inside the dance, I watched as sweet young women would in turn walk up to Walter during the beginning of each slow song, rest their hand on his shoulder, grab his left hand to hold it up and dance with him. Watching that does something to you. It almost brings me to tears just thinking about it.

In the following weeks, Walter quickly felt like he was a part of something. He felt loved. He felt his true self worth. Most importantly, he felt the Spirit as he read from the Book of Mormon, attended church, and prayed. To our delight, he chose to be baptized!

It took three of us to baptize Walter. I'll never forget the experience of watching him come up out of the water! I am so blessed to know Walter.

Last Sunday he was able to pass the sacrament. Barely able to lift up his hand to grasp the tray, Walter reverently guided his chair through his assignment and performed his duty with great dignity. I was deeply touched by this special moment. I believe Walter has a special knowledge of what the sacrament means. He has great faith! We can all learn much from our brother Walter Finley.

Back In The "Swing" of Things

When I was about 13, my older brother Jaron taught me about the basics of swing dancing. I would watch in amazement as he lifted, twirled, spun, and whirled a young woman while miraculously earning a smile on her face. I decided that I wanted to become good at dancing someday. I don’t pretend that ballroom dancing has been my greatest passion in life but it has been one of my favorite hobbies when time permits.

This year at school I joined the ballroom dance club and have absolutely loved getting back into the “swing” of things. It’s a great break from the studies for me. I’ve been able to meet some of the kindest, driven, down-to-earth folks through the club.

This last month we had our first competition. It was held at the University of Maryland, just above D.C. I had a partner for Standard and for Rhythm. I was very humbled at the competition : ) Waltz, Cha Cha, and Swing (all of which I’ve known and performed for years) didn’t yield callbacks. Haha. But, somehow we got fourth place in both Rumba and Mambo and got callbacks in Quickstep, all of which I had just learned this year. Lesson: performance is often best when you have an I-have-nothing-to-lose attitude and just do your best.

What a fun time!